Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing’s Ryan Dungey scored his first podium in the SX class Saturday night with a strong second-place finish at the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After grabbing the holeshot, Dungey led for three laps before relinquishing the lead and settling down in second place. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s David Vuillemin also put in a strong performance on the Suzuki RM-Z450, maintaining sixth place for nearly the first half of the race until falling back and settling for an eighth-place finish.

In the AMA Supercross Lites class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Nico Izzi struggled a bit in the whoops in Minneapolis, scoring sixth place in his heat race, following that up with a ninth-place finish in the Lites main event. Izzi has moved up to fourth overall in the Supercross Lites east championship.

Ryan Dungey: “The crowd was behind me 100 percent, and I could hear them on every lap. This is only my third race in this class, so I’m very happy being able to score a second place. I mean, what a way to really go out. I hope we gave the fans a show! My Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 worked flawlessly and it was great to have the team, the fans and my family behind me all the way. I’m looking forward to another race or two on the RM-Z450 and then getting back to business on my Suzuki RM-Z250 in Seattle.”

David Vuillemin: “Minneapolis started pretty good for me. I had good practice times on a basic style track. I started good in the heat race and finished fourth. I had a great start again in the main and was sixth after a lap. I took advantage of Reed's crash and moved to fifth around half way. I made a few bobbles and even went off the track due to a front brake issue. I was then seventh and eventually got passed by Reed towards the end. Overall it was an okay weekend and I am happy for the team, with Ryan Dungey's second place in front of his hometown crowd. We have a weekend off now, which is good to regroup, get some training done and start working on some outdoor testing.”

Nico Izzi: “I kind of struggled all night in the whoops. I felt pretty good on the rest of the track but the whoops were tough for me and I knew I had to make it up somewhere else. I was able to pull off a sixth in my heat and a ninth in the main. I was disappointed with the result but felt better when I found out I still moved into fourth over-all in points. It will be good to have a couple weeks off to train and work on my weaknesses.”

Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing’s David Vuillemin and Ryan Dungey will be racing their Suzuki RM-Z450s next at the Roger’s Centre in Toronto, Canada on Saturday, March 29, 2008.

SUZUKI SOCIAL

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